View of the City of Oxford (Magdalen Bridge)

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

Printmaker and writer Samuel Ireland first worked as a silk weaver in Spitalfields. By 1789 he was a merchant based in the Strand and from c.1758 he had a parallel career as a draughtsman and engraver. He exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1765 and the Royal Academy in 1782 and 1784. During the 1780s he etched plates after William Hogarth and others. He first published ‘Graphic Illustrations of Hogarth’ in 1790. From 1790 he also published travel books featuring his own illustrations. However, his son, William, made forged manuscript documents relating to Shakespeare and a volume of facsimiles was published in 1795. Ireland was widely considered to have committed fraud. He died from diabetes in 1800, always maintaining his innocence.

Places

England, Oxfordshire

Subjects

wagon, topography, genre, townscape/cityscape, dog, horse, river, man, woman, 18th century costume, academic gown, college, bridge (urban), university, library, church, spire, dome, tower

Materials & Techniques

aquatint, coloured aquatint

Artist

Samuel Ireland ( - 1800)
J G Wells

Title

View of the City of Oxford (Magdalen Bridge)

Date

1 January 1785

Medium

Coloured aquatint

Acquisition

Purchased from Frank T Sabin, May 1958

GAC number

4642